Ed O’Brien has announced his second solo album, Blue Morpho. The follow-up to 2020’s Earth will arrive on May 22 via his new label home, Transgressive. It’s led by the title track, which you can hear below.
The Radiohead guitarist worked with producer Paul Epworth on the new album following a chance meeting through their children’s school. In Wales, engineer Riley MacIntyre helped lay the album’s foundations while composer Shabaka Hutchings contributed flutes. In Estonia, O’Brien collaborated with composer Tõnu Kõrvits, who arranged strings performed by the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. The record was completed between O’Brien’s studio in Wales and the Church Studios in London. Flood, known for his work with U2, PJ Harvey, and Nine Inch Nails, provided sequencing assistance, and Ben Baptie handled mixing.
After releasing Earth in April 2020, O’Brien entered “the deepest depression of his life,” according to a press release. “Encouraged by his wife to sit in the fire of his emotions, he began a daily ritual, immersing himself in the breathing and cold-exposure teachings of Wim Hof, then retreating into his small London studio, playing guitar for hours until his brain began to fray. ” The resulting record is framed as his first “fully detached from past regrets.”
An accompanying short film, Blue Morpho: The Three Act Play, premiered at SXSW yesterday and will be released alongside the album.
Blue Morpho Cover Artwork:
Blue Morpho Tracklist:
1. Incantations
2. Blue Morpho
3. Sweet Spot
4. Teachers
5. Solfeggio
6. Thin Places
7. Obrigado
